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A substance used and misused drugs including alcohol, illicit drugs such as heroin, cocaine
marijuana, tobacco and misuse of medicine. These drugs lead them to lose their productivity, and
it caused disease and also premature deaths. In the present, the soldiers have been educated on
risks caused the drug’s use and misuse and also avoiding of behaviors that can risk their lives and
even the government has enforced policies that curbs the abuse of narcotics .solders used these
drugs because of the reduced pain.Solders used Heroine and opium mostly because it helped them
to stand the challenges they faced in the war environment. It is a fact the 43 percent of the soldiers
used these substances, and those who used them could not do without them .solders have been
believed to have used marijuana widely since the year 1980s .solders misused medicines which
During the Iraq and Afghanistan civil wars most of the soldiers experienced injuries and stressors
and trauma, during deployment until the military had to organize programs that dealt with
treatment and prevention. Because there was an increase in suicidal cases and also posttraumatic
stress .these programs were meant to enforce the troop on drug policies, and these sought to avail
treatment for the soldier for the soldiers suffering from combat acquired problems, and these
included the abuse of drugs. Since the year 2001, about 2 million soldiers have been assigned duty
in Iraq and Afghanistan.There are two parties involved in these war issues, Operation Enduring
Freedom (OEF; Afghanistan) and in Iraq Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF; Iraq) these two parties
address all matters concerning unhealthy use of drugs and all the conditions that are related to their
applications. Because of use of heavy machinery like guns and hand bombs which risk one life
and may lead to severe injuries like amputation also ladies end up testing positive in PTSD and
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even depressive symptoms but they are less likely to be associated with abuse of substances
problems.
When both psychological torture and abuse of substances there is more likeliness of cumulative
effect with multiple deployments.There are more problems of in the recent report of the deployed
persons than in the past, meaning there is more pressure, acute stress and marital problems which
leads to higher use of drugs by the combat. Since the year 2003, the nation has shown positive
response and attention on counseling soldiers, outreach and examining, prevention and also
resilience. The availability of public awareness and services in 2007 by America takes care of the
use of the unhealthy substance and the problems associated with their outcomes. Social workers
play a huge role during the provision of these services. Even after all these, the rate of alcohol use
In the past drugs were more used than in Iraq and Afghanistan by the soldiers. It was reported that
51 percent of soldiers had used marijuana and 31 percent had used psychedelics which are
mescaline and also psilocybin mushrooms. 28 percent had used hard drugs like cocaine together
with heroine .in this era the drugs were not limited since one could buy them in the black market
and even the military command gave the troop-heavy pills to improve their performance .there is
a report that says between the year 1966 and 1969 military soldiers had consumed 225 million of
stimulants tablets . In addition to these drugs, the military was given sedatives which helped in
relieve of anxiety and also in prevention of mental breakdowns, and it worked since the mental
breakdown rate was 1 percent .in this era marijuana and heroin so much used.
In conclusion, the drug used during the civil war of Iraq and Afghanistan because of the there
strategies used to curb them down as compared to the rate of their used before.During Iraq civil
war the drugs were controlled while as in the past the drugs were available and were sold in the
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black market, there were no campaigns on the misuses of drugs in the past, but in the present, there
is awareness of abuse.
Jakupcak, Matthew, et al. "Posttraumatic stress disorder as a risk factor for suicidal ideation in Iraq and
Afghanistan war veterans." Journal of Traumatic Stress: Official Publication of The International Society for
Seal, Karen H., et al. "Substance use disorders in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in VA healthcare, 2001–
2010: Implications for screening, diagnosis, and treatment." Drug and alcohol dependence 116.1-3 (2016):
93-101.